Keeping a cool head may be the key to getting a good night’s sleep.

Researchers have found that insomnia sufferers fell asleep quickly and enjoyed a restful night after being fitted with a special cap containing cold water.

They believe that lowering the temperature of the brain slows its activity and so aids rest.

It is hoped that the invention could prove an effective treatment for insomniacs without the need for sleeping pills.

Dr Eric Nofzinger of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who led the study, said: “The most significant finding from this study is that we can have a beneficial impact on the sleep of insomnia patients via a safe, non-pharmaceutical mechanism that can be made widely available for home use by insomnia sufferers.”

In research to be presented at a meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Minneapolis this week, delegates will be told that metabolism in an area of the brain known as the frontal cortex slows down while falling asleep. But the process increases in insomniacs.

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Researchers set up an experiment to treat sleepless patients by inducing “cerebral hypothermia”, in order to cool the brain and so slow its activity.

They chose 12 people with primary insomnia – not linked to any other conditions – and 12 healthy control patients, then fitted them all with soft plastic caps.

These caps contained tubes filled with water that circulated at different speeds.

It was found that the subjects with insomnia took 13 minutes to fall asleep, less time than the 16 minutes experience by the healthy controls, while both groups slept for 89 per cent of the time they were in bed.

Dr Nofzinger added: “The primary medical treatment for insomnia has long been the prescription of hypnotics, or sleeping pills, yet only about 25 per cent of patients using these treatments are satisfied, citing concerns regarding side effects and the possibility of dependence on a pill to help them sleep at night.

“There exists a large gap between what patients with insomnia are looking for to help them and what is currently available. Patients have long sought a more natural, non-pharmaceutical means to help them with their sleep at night. The identification of a dose-dependent improvement by the device used in this study opens the door to a novel, safe and more natural way to achieve restorative sleep in insomnia care.”